New Orleans area gets ready to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

So many years, so many testaments, so many promises. A quarter century ago America created a federal holiday in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. -- acknowledging that a single day in January, at least, was worthy of pause and some degree of reflection.

BRETT DUKE / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEBryan Carter, 12, holds hands with his mother, Robin Fields as they march together in observance of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday along River Road Monday, January 18, 2010 in Luling.

Yet is that sufficient?

"In 25 years we have made many strides and much progress, but there is still a lot of work to be done, " emphasizes the Rev. Gary Wood, pastor of Pentecost Missionary Baptist Church. "There are still a lot of hearts to be touched."

As chairman of the Ministerial Alliance of Greater St. Tammany's youth activities, Wood is in the local foreground for this year's MLK holiday observances. The alliance has set "Preparing for the Challenge" as its theme for 2011, with events slated for Saturday and Sunday evenings, culminating in a parade on Monday at 3 p.m. at Starlight Missionary Baptist Church, 2100 Second St. in Olde Towne. Such marches and parades are also planned in New Orleans and Kenner as well as in St. Bernard, St. Charles and St. John parishes. Along with the marches, there are free concerts and performances planned in community centers and churches throughout the area.

"We have not forgotten that his legacy lives on, " Wood said of King, who was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968. "And as long as that's still alive it's like a fire -- sometimes it blazes, and other times it's just a spark. But the fire is still burning."

In St. Charles Parish, the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Organization march will start at the Hale Boggs Bridge in Luling.

Participants may well recall times a generation ago when such marches, often led by King himself, were greeted with taunts, threats and snarling police dogs. Decades later, the overt threats had faded, but the absence of official federal recognition remained galling to many.

"It was a struggle to get the holiday, " said Celestine P. Williams, chairman of the commemorative organization. "A lot of people had to go through mountains in St. Charles Parish, and some were afraid to take off from work."

Williams added that she's heartened by the prospect of a new memorial to King in Washington, D.C., set to be dedicated this summer. Already there is a statue of King not far from where he gave his now-iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.

"With all the things going on that are negative, " Williams said, "this is one positive thing we can look at."

Significantly, the King holiday belongs to citizens of all races and backgrounds. Rabbi Ethan Linden, who leads Shir Chadash Conservative Congregation in Metairie, spoke of the historically close connections between Jews and African-Americans, who both drank from the deep and often bitter well of slavery.

Now the imperative is to make the third Monday in January more than simply an opportunity to sleep late. Indeed, the MLK holiday should be "filled not with inaction, but with action, " Linden said.

ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES PICAYUNEKevin Diggs walks down Loyola Avenue as The City of New Orleans on Monday, January 19, 2010, celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a march beginning at City Hall and ending at the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue on South Claiborne. The event featured politicians, marching groups and school bands.

"That's a particularly hard spirit to capture, particularly in the U.S., " he conceded. "I wish there could be a 'positive commandment' to work toward the sorts of equality and things (King) was talking about, especially toward the end of his life. Ultimately, the message that came with the preaching was less about one day of social action, but about the slow, frustrating and difficult process of making society more equal."

Or as Frances Dunn, chairman of the "Dare to Dream" MLK celebration in Covington put it: "Renewing America's promise that what Dr. King dreamed about begins in the idea that we rise and fall as one nation and one people."

MARCHES AND RALLIES

Marches, rallies and concerts commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. are planned throughout the long weekend in just about every community in the greater New Orleans area. For details, see the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Events in the daily calendars in The Times-Picayune.

Here are some of those events:

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Events

If you know of events that are not listed, please add them in the comments area of this feature.

PARADES/MARCHES

New Orleans

The city of New Orleans sponsors “Hands on New Orleans,” a MLK service project, 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at O. Perry Walker High School, 2832 Gen. Meyer Ave.

At 10 a.m., on Jan. 15, the R.E.A.L. March begins at A.L. Davis Park and ends at the Martin Luther King monument at South Claiborne Avenue, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony, at 11 a.m. …

Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend of Peace The congregations of Touro Synagogue and Masjidur Raheem sponsor a community service event for the needy at Jomo-Kenyatta Park, 1115 N. Claiborne Ave. Volunteers from both groups will serve a hot meal, distribute canned goods and clothing, and offer health screenings with entertainment and music by the Hot 8 Brass Band, 1-4 Saturday, Jan. 15.

On Sunday, Jan. 16, at 6 p.m., there is a memorial service at New Home Ministries Church, 1605 Carondelet St. …

The 25th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March Opening program, 9:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, on the steps of City Hall, 1300 Perdido St. The march begins at City Hall and ends at the bust of King on Claiborne Avenue. All are welcome to join. Following the march, a service project takes place at Norwood Thompson Park, 7200 Forshey St., at 1.

The MLK Commemorative Art Exhibit opens at 2 p.m. at the New Orleans African American Museum, 1418 Gov. Nicholls St. For information on city-sponsored events, call 504.658.4900.

The city of Kenner sponsors the 26th annual Martin Luther King Jr. March, beginning 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at Providence Baptist Church, 11509 Jefferson Highway, River Ridge. It proceeds down Jefferson Highway to Decatur Street to the Arthur P. Clay Sr. Resource Center, 200 Decatur St., for a special program, at noon. In case of inclement weather, the event will move from the resource center to the Buddy Lawson Gym, 1800 Short St.

St. Bernard

Community of marchers will gather at Violet Park on St. Bernard Highway Monday, Jan. 17, at 8:45 a.m. for a prayer. The procession will travel west on St. Bernard Highway, turn right on Colonial Boulevard to Judge Perez Drive and turn left to Corinne Missionary Baptist Church, 5620 E. Judge Perez Drive, where there will be refreshments and featured speakers. Call 682.8674.

Covington

Neighobrhood Summit, 10 a.m.-2 Saturday, Jan. 15, (continental breakfast at 9:30 a.m.) at the Bethel Reform Methodist Church Fellowship Hall. The goal of the summit is to mobilize residents, property owners, community and local leaders of the West 30s to implement the Revitalization Plan, facilitated by Charles Buki of Alexandria, Va., president of a neighborhood planning firm. A parade for revitalization begins at Rev. Peter Atkins Park, 10 a.m. Mon., marching through the West 30s neighborhood, ending at the Fuhrmann Auditorium, Greater Covington Center, 317 N. Jefferson St. for a Celebration Service at 11 a.m. with the Greater Covington Gospel Youth Choir and Buki as the guest speaker. Following the service, an afternoon of food and fellowship takes place in Peter Atkins Park. Call 985.722.7290.

Slidell

The annual Martin Luther King Jr. march begins, Monday, Jan. 17, at 3 p.m. at Starlight Missionary Baptist Church, 2100 Second St., Olde Towne and follows the traditional route. After the parade, a commemorative service will be held at Starlight with guest speaker Felix James from Southern University. The MLK banquet takes place at Hartzell Mount Zion United Methodist Church, 41040 U.S. 190 East, 7 Sun. The guest speaker will be district attorney Walter Reed. Call 985.643.3555.

St. Charles Parish

The Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Organization of St. Charles Parish holds its annual march and celebration, beginning 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at the Hale Boggs Bridge in Luling and ending at the Eual J. Landry Gym on River Road in Hahnville with a rally. The speaker is Merlyna Adams, principal of St. Rose Elementary School. Call 985.785.8625.

St. John Parish

The West St. John Civic Association holds a march and memorial program, beginning 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at the Roland Borne Sr. Memorial Library, 2979 Louisiana 18, in Edgard. The march will proceed east, ending at the West Bank Community Center, 173 E. Third St. A memorial program will take place, at 1 on the center’s lawn. Speakers will be senior citizens from the Edgard community. Call 985.497.8835 or 628.2310. … Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Chruch’s Victory Beyond the Wall Ministry and New Pilgram Baptist Church sponsor a march, beginning 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, at East St. John Elementary School on Ory Drive in LaPlace and proceeding on Airline Highway to the Percy Hebert Building for a rally with the theme “Recapturing the Spirit of the King and Planning for the Future.” Retired Grambling State University professor Lawrence Woodard is the speaker. Call 985.536.4899.

OTHER EVENTS

Youth Talent Show and Essay Contest Pentecost Missionary Baptist Church

36138 Shady Lane, Slidell.

The winners of the annual essay contest will be announced, and a variety of musical and spoken word performances take place, 6 Saturday, Jan. 15, Free. Call 985.641.5529.

Louisiana Children’s Museum

420 Julia St.

Martin Luther King Jr. Festival celebrates King with activities dedicated to the realization of his dream, Friday, Jan. 14, through Monday, Jan. 17, $8, free for members. Admission is free for all, noon-4:30 Sun., courtesy of Target. Call 523.1357.

The joint service is sponsored by Asbury United Methodist, Second Baptist and Second Nazarene Baptist Churches, 6:30 Monday, Jan. 17. The speakers are the Rev. Andrew J. Douglas and the Rev. Taza Green, with music by the Great Mass Choir.

Martin Luther King Week for Peace

Xavier, Tulane, Dillard and Loyola Universities hold joint activities, with the theme “Unity + Diversity = Universities for the Dream,” beginning 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 17, with a Community Service Day — “A Day On, Not a Day Off.” Students from all four campuses will meet at Xavier’s University Center to be matched up with a service project. Call 865.2344.

The Martin Luther King Convocation takes place, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 19, (reception at 5) at the Danna Center, Loyola University, where Student Community Service awards and a community Lifetime Achievement award will be presented. The featured guests are poet, writer, commentator and activist Nikki Giovanni, and Ruby Bridges, the first African-American child to attend an all-white elementary school in the South, recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

A celebration of King’s life through song, drama, dance, music and spoken word, the Expressions of Unity Performance is held at Dillard’s Fine Arts Center, Thursday, Jan. 20, at 7 p.m.; “Stepping for the Dream,” a University Step Off Competition, takes place, Jan. 21, at McAlister Auditorium, Tulane University, at 7. Call 865.3737.